When they first met on Aug. 13, Farrington already had a sense of what needed to be done.
The Campbell Sabers were just trying to figure out who they were. Farrington and Campbell left Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium that night, literally and figuratively headed in two separate directions. The Governors won 34-14, had two capable quarterbacks, an elite multi-skilled playmaker at running back, and one of the state’s top pass catchers. All seniors.
Campbell? Questions. Nothing but questions to ponder on that long bus ride home to Ewa Beach. The loss to Farrington, which opened the regular season, happened to be the only “crossover” game on the schedule that counted. It came a week after a preseason, non-counting 38-0 shellacking at the hands of Kapolei, the eventual OIA Blue first-place finisher.
Since the Farrington loss, the Sabers gradually grew stronger and smarter. Some of their most glaring weaknesses have evaporated to almost nothing. Road wins at Kaiser, then Aiea. A loss at Goliath Kahuku, fair enough. Then a double-overtime victory over Moanalua at home — the Sabers’ first home game of the season after a long wait for the new synthetic turf and bleachers to be completed.
That was followed by a stunning 14-12 win over powerhouse Waianae, and a lopsided victory over Radford.
All of that late-season surge pushed Campbell, a team that had won just one regular-season game over the span of eight dating back to 2015, into second place. That gave the Sabers an opening-round bye in the playoffs, toppling Waianae to third place.
“We’ve been able to get back all our injured players during the bye week, so we’re fresh and ready to go this Friday,” Sabers coach Amosa Amosa said.
The obvious difference is in quarterback Kawika Ulufale, a mobile, shifty controller of the offense. It was Campbell’s defense that worked wonders against Moanalua in the close win on Sept. 16, and Ulufale struggled with four picks. But since then, rainbows and unicorns. Ulufale had his best performance in their most crucial matchup. He opened the Waianae game with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Markus Ramos, ran for another TD and finished the game 14-for-19, 171 yards and just one pick against one of the state’s top defenses.
The Sabers have spread the field in four-wide sets without relinquishing a desire to run the ball. Waianae curtailed RB Tasi Faumui and Campbell’s ground attack that night, limiting the Sabers to 28 rushing yards. The difference was Ulufale’s decisions. Another was about intangibles.
“Kawika has improved every week in managing our offense and taking care of the football,” Amosa said. “Most of our success on offense is based solely on our O-line play and execution.”
“One of the keys to their improvement has to do with the leadership, which starts with Coach Amosa and his staff,” Farrington coach Randall Okimoto said. “They’ve done a terrific job improving every week.
TODAY’S GAME
St. Francis (4-2, 3-1 ILH D-II) vs. Pac-Five (2-4, 0-4), Aloha Stadium, 6 p.m.— It’s the luck of the draw, so to speak. After rising to the challenge and toppling Damien late in the regular season, St. Francis finished in a first-place tie, only to lose the card draw. So, the Saints face dangerous Pac-Five while Damien rests with an opening-round bye, waiting to meet the winner of this game.
St. Francis routed Pac-Five a week ago, 45-13, to close the regular season. It’s meaningless now, and though another wipe out could occur, when these teams met on Sept. 16, the Saints eked out a 30-27 victory.
Wolfpack QB Ryan Johnson could get untracked against just about any defense. Whether they can contain Saints RB Tyson Shimabukuro is a major key. The junior rushed for 304 yards and two TDs on 43 carries in two games against the ‘Pack.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Leilehua (4-5, 3-4 OIA) at No. 1 Kahuku (7-1, 7-0 OIA), 7 p.m. — The Mules face a most daunting task against the defending state champions. They have just enough weaponry to make this interesting, using the short-passing game to control the ball and the clock. If it sounds odd that a ball-control methodology is necessary against Kahuku, remember this: Whether they score points or not, they will muscle and grind any front seven to dust over the period of two quarters, three quarters, a whole game.
Can the Mules offense stay on the field? Without a consistent ground game — one with power — it is a huge challenge. The last QB to win at Kahuku was Kapolei’s Mason Koa, a fairly good sized athlete who picked his spots wisely and took care of the ball.
Leilehua QB Kona Andres and RB/QB Kaleo Aloha Piceno might have just enough trickeration between them to keep the swarming Red Raiders defense slightly off-balance.
Leilehua has one of the state’s premier two-way players, S/WR Charles Moku Watson, but he normally doesn’t line up on offense until the second half. Last week, Kailua’s two-way standout, Christian Mejia, started on offense and had a couple of key plays as a receiver, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to stop Waianae. Watson is a burner with great hands, but if his tank runs empty early in the game, Leilehua’s defense isn’t the same.
No. 2 Punahou (6-1, 5-1 ILH) vs. No. 10 Kamehameha (3-5, 2-4), Aloha Stadium, 7:45 p.m. — It is here, finally. Weeks into the regular season, Punahou and Saint Louis rose to the top, and Saint Louis won the tiebreaker card draw to get the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
So Punahou gets what is, at least on paper, the tougher opponent. Kamehameha may have preferred to meet Saint Louis; the teams played last week and the Crusaders won, 21-7.
The Warriors have struggled at times, but their front seven is among the best in the state. Saint Louis QB Tua Tagovailoa calls it the very best. But Punahou has been Kamehameha’s kryptonite. In two regular-season matchups, Punahou beat Kamehameha 56-14 and 42-15.
What is at stake? Kamehameha can advance to the “Round 2” title game by upsetting Punahou. It would take a win in the second-round title game to secure a berth in the HHSAA Open Division state tournament.
Punahou, second in the ILH’s “Round 1” by card draw, could lock a berth in the Open Division state tourney — the ILH has two berths in that six-team bracket — with a win over Kamehameha and a Saint Louis victory over ‘Iolani.
It won’t matter for Kamehameha if there’s no antidote to stop Punahou’s efficient aerial scheme. Nick Kapule passed for 348 yards, four TDs and no interceptions in three quarters of work in the first matchup on Sept. 1.
In the rematch two weeks ago, Kapule threw the ball just 25 times, completing 14 passes for 298 yards and four more TDs without a pick. In the two games combined, Kamehameha has limited Kapule to 61-percent passing (43-for-71) — an unusually low completion rate. However, he continues to connect for big plays with his talented fleet of senior receivers.
For the season, Kapule is averaging a whopping 9.7 yards per pass attempt.
No. 3 Saint Louis (6-1, 5-1 ILH) vs. ‘Iolani (3-6, 0-6), Aloha Stadium, 5 p.m. — At this time of year, especially in leagues that have multiple-round rematches — KIF defending champ Kapaa lost to last-place Kauai last week — the Crusaders have endured tough battles of late.
Iolani has a technician’s chance in this matchup of four-wide attacks, but Tagovailoa has been beastly against the Raiders since his first start against them as a sophomore.
His numbers against the Raiders this fall: 17-for-26, 260 yards, two TDs, no picks (Sept. 2); 41-for-47, 493 yards, five TDs, one INT (Sept. 23). Two wins.
Moanalua (5-4, 3-4 OIA) at No. 4 Kapolei (7-1, 6-1), 7:30 p.m. — The challenge is large for Na Menehune. This year’s group has never beat the Hurricanes, losing in 2014 and ’15. The last time Moanalua knocked off Kapolei was in ’11, at Na Menehune’s field.
Since a 35-14 home loss to Waianae in Week 2, the ‘Canes have not just won six in a row, but dominated. No team has gotten closer than a 14-point margin against a balanced Kapolei squad. Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa anchors a fierce front seven that has persevered despite a multitude of injuries.
Of course, there’s the aerial force of Kapolei’s offense. Taulia Tagovailoa has produced at a rate that is Tua-esque. Taulia, a sophomore, has thrown for 2,393 yards, 26 TDs and just four picks; as a sophomore, his older brother Tua had 33 TDs and three INTs.
His counterpart, Alaka‘i Yuen, doesn’t have quite the complement of a ground attack, but has generated just about everything offensively for Moanalua. Yuen (1,953 yards, 24 TDs, 14 INTs) is the second-leading rusher on his team, and he’s at his best when his receiver corps is healthy.
Kalani (3-3, 3-3 OIA D-II) vs. McKinley (0-7, 0-6), Kaiser Stadium, 6 p.m. — Kalani is out of the playoff hunt, and McKinley is treating this like a bowl game.
“I expect us to play our best game against Kalani,” Tigers coach Sam Cantiberos said.
The second-year head coach has reason for optimism. The Tigers defense was solid against Waialua last week, and the offense has become fairly efficient.
Kalani could look past the winless Tigers team, but barely missing the playoffs is likely to have the Falcons hungry in the season finale.
Pearl City (5-2, 5-1 OIA D-II) at Waialua (4-2, 4-2), 6 p.m. — The Chargers can lock up first place and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win over the Bulldogs. A Waialua win would set up the possibility of a three-way tie for second place. The playoff seeding for the league’s top four teams would be at the mercy of the OIA’s tiebreaker rule for three-way ties.
The Chargers have won seven of the last eight meetings with Waialua, but the Bulldogs won last year’s game at Bino Neves Field, 27-23.
Maui (4-4, 4-2 MIL) at Kamehameha-Maui (2-6, 2-5), 7 p.m. — It has been five weeks since the Sabers have played away from the familiar surroundings of War Memorial Stadium. The Sabers do have the benefit of being well rested after last week’s bye. The Warriors are coming off a 36-10 road loss to Lahainaluna.
Kamehameha-Hawaii (6-2, 4-2 BIIF) at Hilo (6-1, 6-0), Wong Stadium, 7:30 p.m. — There hasn’t been much time for the D-II Warriors to lick their wounds and heal up since last weekend’s 35-12 loss at Konawaena. Now they face the league’s D-I leader on the baseball/football dirt and grass of Wong Stadium. The Vikings continue to play their brand of football: physical defense, ground-and-pound offense. Since squeezing past Konawaena and Kealakehe early in the season, the Viks have blitzed opponents by an average margin of 33.5 points.
SATURDAY’S GAME
No. 5 Waianae (7-2, 5-2 OIA) at No. 6 Mililani (5-2, 5-2), 6:30 p.m. — The Seariders’ upset loss to Campbell late in the regular season cost them a first-round bye. That valuable rest and healing time was appreciated by OIA Blue, second-place Mililani. The Seariders overpowered Kailua 41-12 last week, but it was close for nearly a half as the visitors chewed up time off the clock and benefited for 200 penalty yards by the Seariders. Eight of those penalties were on personal fouls, including some late hits on defense and special teams.
When the Seariders are focused, they are dominant defensively. They had five sacks against Kailua last week.
Mililani’s power running game has ascended lately. Jalen Olomua and Darius Muasau were downhill boulders in a win over Leilehua two weeks ago. That takes much of the pressure off sophomore QB Dillon Gabriel.
The key, though, will be Waianae’s ground and pound. Rick Rosario averaged nearly 13 yards per carry in the win over Kailua, and the Seariders churned out 367 rushing yards.
Waimea (3-3, 2-2 KIF) at Kapaa (5-1, 4-1), 2:30 p.m. — It was Waimea that was first to expose a possible weakness in defending champion Kapaa during a 3-0 loss three weeks ago. When previously winless Kauai upset Kapaa 20-17 last week, that may have stoked the fire for Waimea.
Or it may have turned the tide for Kapaa, which had not permitted a single point in the six games before the loss to Kauai.
Lahainaluna (5-3, 4-2 MIL) at Baldwin (6-2, 6-0), War Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m. — The Lunas were young last year, and though they’re playing good football, the road has been tough. They do, however, seem to play some of their best ball against D-I powerhouse Baldwin.
The Bears pulled out a 29-27 win at Lahainaluna on Sept. 10, their closest margin in an unblemished MIL slate so far.
Kealakehe (2-5, 2-4 BIIF) at Hawaii Prep (0-7, 0-6), 3 p.m. — A roller-coaster season continues for the Waveriders, who nearly upset D-I leader Hilo, edged KS-Hawaii, and lost at Waiakea last week 29-14.
Ka Makani is in the midst of what may be its first winless season in decades, but they have a slugger’s chance. Three weeks ago, they nearly beat Waiakea, losing at home 21-19.
Honokaa (3-4, 2-4 BIIF) at Waiakea (3-6, 3-3), 1:30 p.m. — Last week’s 40-14 win over rival HPA helps, and now the Dragons meet Waiakea. The teams faced each other back on Aug. 19 in a preseason game that did not count in the standings. Honokaa won that home game 41-35.
The Warriors have transformed since losing their first four games. They have won three of their last five contests, including last week’s victory over Kealakehe.
